Separator.



CLAUDE C. ITMAN, OF GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADOL V SEPARATOR.

Speciflcation oi' Letters Patent.

. Application filed January 3, 1910. Serial No. 536,095.

To all whom 'it may concern: a

' Be it known that I, CLAUDE C. INMAN, citizen of the United States residing at Grand J unction, in the county ofMesa and State of Colorado, havenvented new and useful Improvements in Separators, of

- which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to separators and segregating apparatus designed for use in mining, and particularly for the recovering and saving of fine gold, latinum and other precious metals and -metalliferous values' It is the Object of this invention to provide a separator which is especially adapted for use in 'placer mines, and which can be" applied to any sluice, dredge, mill, or the like, and by which apparatus the current flow can be regulated to suit the character of the material handled; and also by which apparatus a great 'economy in the use of water may be efl'ected. l

A further Object is to provide a separator by means of which the fine gold and', other metals usually carried away and lost in placer mining may be saved and accumulated in fine Sands or slimes for further' treatment by any suitable amalgamating or concentr'ating process.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, 'having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the invention on the line X-X, Fig. 2.' Fig. 2 is a plan view. F ig. 3 is an end elevation of the lower portion of the machine.

In the common method of using an ordi-` nary sluice, as is usually practiced in placer mining at the present time, the volume of water necessary to carry coarse gravel and boulders along the sluice is suflicient to also carry away the fine gold and other ninerals, and thus entails a loss which in many instances renders the'operations unprofitable. To obviate this undesirable result, and to accomplish certain desirable objects hereinafter apparent, I employ the device hereinafter described, the use of which permits of the volume of water or sluice head being reduced from twenty to forty per cent., and allows the gold or other metals to settle to the bottom' of the machine, from whence it is drawn ofi' on tables or other arrangements for further treatment.

In the drawings, A is the main flume from a mine, through which the volume of water,

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

together with boulders, gravel'and concentrates, flows anddischarges into an inclined stationary sluice section 2, the bottom of which is provided with screen bars 3 which may be dsposed over a portion of or the entire length of the sluice.- The sluice section 2. terminates at its outer end in a downwardly inclined discharge portion 4, the incline of which is approximately forty-five degrees and greater than the incline of the section 2.

The bottom of the sluice section 4 is pro- 'vided' with 'screen bars at 5 for two feet,

more or less; the remainder, or lower portion, 'of the bottom being formed of a-slidable late 6 'mounted in suitable guides on the s uice 4 and adapted to be moved back and forth,`or lengthwise up and down, by means of a pinion 7 engaging with a toothed rack 8 on the back of the plate, as will be later described, the lower end of the sluice 4 terminating slightly above the bottom of a chute 9. v

Suspended beneath and adapted to telescope the stationary sluice section 2 is a vertically adjustable sluice-box 10- which is hingedly mounted at 10' at its upper end the main flume A. This sluice-box 10 is supported at any convenient point throughl out its length by means of chams or cables 11 which are adapted to be wond around drums 12 mounted on a shaft 13 rotatable through a sprocket 14 and chain 14', or in any other suitable manner, so as to raise and lower the outer or lowermost end of the sluice-box 10 in relation to its hinged connection 10'. This is for the purpose of regulating the flow of water so that the same can-be made-to carrycoarse gravel and rocks of any size "down to the -foot inclined sluice 4 which sits at an angle of about 45 and through which all the balance of water passes; and owing to the steep incline, rocks I as' sluice 2; cab

'into' the separator, and

psed be'neath the sluice-box' 10, and is adapted to receive the materials dscharged from the latter. This adjustable sluieel is hinged at 16 to the under side of the inclined stationary sluice 4: ata point proximate to the lower termination of the screen bars 5. The opposite end of the adjustable sluice 15 is su ported in a Similar manner les or chains 17 bein secured to the sides of the sluice and winda le upon drums 17' on a shaft 18 adapted to be rotated by a sprocket 19 and chain 19', or in any other desired manner, so as to adjust the incline of the bottom of the sluice 15. This box 15 is made adjustable for the purpose of regulating the location of fall of water when raised to a point as indicated by dotted lines, shuts off all water and sand from separator, and forces the same down the main sluice 9.

This is only done in case of accidents and` upon rare clean-ups.

A receiving or separating tank 20 is disposed beneath the sluice 15, into which the flow of materials in the latter may be discharged, the separating tank extending for- Ward beneath the sluice 4 and to some extent under the chute 9. The bottom or floor 21 of the separating tank 20 is inclined forward, as shown in Fig. 1, and leads to an Opening 22 in the end of the tank, which is closable by means -of a gate 23 which is raised and lowered by suitable means, as a pinion 24 acting on a rack 25 formed on the gate 23. The gated Opening 22 connect/s the interior of the tank 20 with a flume 26 leading to any suitable saving plant, concentrators, or the like, not shown.

A fixed inclined partition 27 is disposed across the interior of the tank 20 at a point near its center, the top of the partition 27 terminating below the top edge of the tank, and the lower edge a short distance above the inclined bottom 21 of the tank. The space 21' intervening between the bottom of t e tank and the lower edge of the partition is adapted to be closed by a slidable gate 28 mounted in suitable guides and operated *by a rack 29 and pinion 29', so as to open and close the space 21'.

A 'vertical artition or baflie 30 extends across the ta 20 at a point about midway between the u per end of the inclined partition 27 and t e end of the tank and a short distance in front of the open end of the chute 9, through which latter overflow from tank 20 takes place. The upper edge of the partiti on 30 is on a level with the top of the tank 20 and the lower edge terminates a distance above the bottom 21 of the tank, so as to form an open space..31.

Outlets 32 of any desired number lead from the tank 20 ,and are disposed at suitable intervals along the'bottom or sides of the tank and lead to a slime pipe 33 exleadin tling through tending alon the outside of the tank and to t e concentrators, not shown. Suitab e cut-off valves 34 are interposed in the outlets 32, so as to shut ofi or regulate the'flow of slines through'theputlets.

In operation, the (water, sand, gravel, boulders and other materials carried by the main flume A are discharged intothe screened sluice 2, the sand and fine materials setthe screen bars 3 onto the bottom of the' adjustable sluice' 10, while the coarse gravel and boulders remain on top of the screens to be carried forward by the current of water, and are delivered over the, 4

screen bars 5 and *plate 6 in the inclined sluice 4 into the flume 9,' from whence they are removed in any suitable manner. The depth of water in the sluice 2 is regulated by raising or lowering. the adjustable sluice 10 by means of the chains 11; ordinarily the outer end of the sluice is set* a -suflicient distance beneath the sluice, that the surface of the water therein ,will impel the boulders and gravel into the sluice 4:. The Sands and fines are carried by the water along the 'lower adjustable sluice 15 and are emptied into the settling or separating tank 20. The heavier sands and materials settle at once to the bottom of the tank 20 forward of the inclined partition 27, from whence they are drawn oil' through the Opening 22 and` conveyed to the concentrators throu h the flume 26. The finer particles, held n suspension in the water, are carried over the top of the inclined partition 27 by the flow of water, which takes the course indicated by the arrows, Fig. 1; that is, 'over the partition 27, and under the partition 30; these finer particles settling to the inclined bottom 21 of the tank 20 to be removed through the outlets 32 in the form of slimes, while the clear water overfiows into the flume 9. By raising the flume 10 so that its bottom will contact the under side of the sluice 2,-

and raising the lower sluice 15 to or above the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, by means of the chain 17, the flow of all the water may be directed through the sluice 4 into the flume 9, in which event the plate 6 is moved to its lowermost position, thereby effectively causing the water to flow from the flume A through the sluices 2-4 direct to the flume 9, thus permitting of emptying the settling tank 20 to clean up or repair same; the plate 6 when contactin with the bottom of sluice 9 acting to cut o back flow from sluice 9 into the tank.

By this apparatus the water can be held per day. The sparator is made open at the top, and of sheet metal, and being usually six feet wide, and sluice but three feet, gives plenty of room for theoperator to get into the machine at any time for repairing same.. The 'separator can be installed on any placer sluice, or installed on any`dredge without material change to the original plant.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters'Patent, is:

1. The combination with a screen sluice box, of an outside sluice section fitting` the same and telescoping therewith, the -upper end of the sluice section hinged beneath the sluice box and receiving the discharge therefrom, the lower -end of the outside sluice section having a discharge separate from the sluice-box, means for raising and lowering the free end. of said outside sluice section, a vertically adjustable hinged sluice box' into which said hinged section normally discharges, means by which the said hinged sluice' box may be made to discharge' back into the first mentioned sluice box, and a set:

tling tank into which the said hinged sluice box discharges separate from the first mentioned sluice box.

2. The combination of a stationary screen sluice box, an inclined continuation thereof also having a screen portion anda sliding plate, a chute into which said inclined portion discharges, a sluice section hinged to the underside of the sluice box and receiving the discharge from the first mentioned screen portion, the free end of said sluice section having normally a discharge separate from the sluice box.

. and receving'the discharge from the first mentioned screen portion, the free end of said sluice section'having normally a dscharge separate from the sluce box, a hnged "sluice box into which said hinged section discharges, and means for raising'- and lowering said hinged sluice box to cause it to discharge into said chute.

L The combination of a stationary screen sluice box, an inclined. continu'ation thereof also having` a screen portion and a sliding bottom plate, a chute into which said in- `clined portion dis'charges, a sluice section hinged to the underside of the sluice box and receiving the disc'harge from the first' men- V tioned screen portion, the free end of said.

sluice section having normally a discharge separate from the sluice box, and a hinged sluice box receiving the discharge from the said hinged section, a settling tank into which said sluice-box discharges, baflies arranged in the' settling tank, said settling tank having an overflow discharging into said chute.

In testimony whereof 'I have he'reunto set my hand in the witn esses.

CLAUDE C. INMAN.

Witnesses MICHAEL A. WILDER, SAMU L G. MOMULLEN.

presence of two subscribing 

